The nineties weren’t always the best of times when it came to straight-to-video horror films, with Seedpeople serving as proverbial proof in the pudding.

As an unabashed riff (see: shanghai) on the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, director Peter Manoogian’s Seedpeople isn’t the worst film of its kind…but it’s an incredibly lackluster and go-nowhere sort of picture, one which promotes complacency, as opposed to the sort of fear and anxiety reserved for the truly successful sorts of horror films.

Manoogian earned his start working as assistant director on Roger Corman’s Galaxy of Terror before settling into a position similar to that of a “house director” for Full Moon Features and Charles Band, yet there is no such exciting inspiration lurking behind the scenes of Seedpeople, dwelling instead upon the cast’s wooden performances and the slothful, molasses-esque pacing.

Although the “seed people” themselves are practically and interestingly constructed overall, their appearances do little more than rustle up a chuckle or two from the audience, due primarily to our intense feeling of distance and disconnection from the protagonists. Between these strikes and the aforementioned plot plagiarism, Seedpeople fizzles out with the viewer long before the film’s climax is even in sight on the horizon, and only comes recommended to the heartiest or most tolerant of direct-to-video maniacs or Full Moon supporters.

The DVD:

88 Films presents Seedpeople in the original fullscreen aspect ratio of its video release. Sound and picture is above average when compared to a film like Beach Babes From Beyond, however the extras here are limited only to the film’s original trailer (as well as a reel of Full Moon trailers), a stills gallery and the original Videozone featurette. Overall, Seedpeople receives a straight forward presentation from 88 Films.